Just when we thought Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is to step down come June 2010, she isn’t. She is just to slide down instead. The last day of filing of COC’s has been subjected to scrutiny, ridicule, and intrigues when Arroyo, a native of a town in Pampanga, has filed her COC, signifying her intent to run as representative for the 2nd district of the said province.
Her stint as the president is when the Constitution of the Republic has been repeatedly tried by circumvention, elusion and bypass. It should be noted at how she filled the Supreme Court with justices in such a manner that when asked to produce a decision, the latter would produce one favorable to Ms. Arroyo and her peers. Likewise, note how she filled the Office of the Ombudsman with her husband’s classmate so that any impeachment complaints implicating the former would not come any closer.
On one hand, Ms. Arroyo has successfully avoided the recession and is successful in keeping the Philippines afloat. To illustrate, our country is now a top destination for Business Process Outsourcing; its tourism industry is significantly growing; and urbanization is swinging in strides. No doubt that she is successful in leading the country full-steam ahead in economy.
However, in order to maintain her position despite of alleged stolen presidency last 2004 elections as shown veritably by Hello Garci (a voice-recorded wiretapped conversation between Ms. Arroyo and the then COMELEC Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. The latter assuring Ms. Arroyo a landslide victory in Maguindanao) and by the recent discovery of electoral frauds in Maguindanao by the Ampatuans and their followers, she was reportedly giving away paper bags with contents as big as P500,000 in order to shield her from impeachment attempts in the House and some Judiciary and Legislative bodies. This allegation was made veritable by the priest-turned-governor Ed Panlilio of Pampanga and by the tell-all account of former House Speaker Jose De Venecia.
From then on, Ms. Arroyo has become generous and kind to congressmen and her allies; and has become cruel, cheapskate and unkind to whistle-blowers, honest, noble men and women and even members of the press.
As she is optimistic in providing Filipinos with jobs and economic opportunities, Ms. Arroyo is a known diplomatic visitor in many countries including Japan, United States, and in Middle East. On her way home, there were opportunities from abroad for economic uplifting for the country and Filipinos.
However, her way there and her stay there were constantly suspected of lavish spending and ostentatious display, as shown by Le Cirque dinners with junkets. During Ms. Arroyo’s meeting with US President Barack Obama, remember how Senator Lito Lapid would only wish one thing: to have a photo-op with the US president. Power rewards, absolute power rewards absolutely in her time indeed.
Last November 23 2009, 57 unarmed and helpless were massacred in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao including 30 media workers. All pieces of evidence and witnesses point their fingers to the son of the Ampatuan patriarch. A close ally to the president and who really delivers, the Ampatuan patriarch and the accused Andal Ampatuan Jr who is responsible for the killing of the relatives and supporter of Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu are reportedly enjoying a VIP treatment. Even a Malacanang spokesperson issued a statement that the alliance of Ms. Arroyo and the Ampatuans “wasn’t strained just because they were implicated.”
And the wheels of justice seem not rolling as prompt as expected. A crime so heinous, only a beast can commit is handled with kid gloves. The bombast and military bravado brought upon by the state of emergency and martial law were reduced to a tokenistic show of force.
And talk about an air-conditioned hummer with a presidential seal inside the Ampatuans carpark or having Jovito Palparan congratulated in a SONA: culture of impunity, a shared legacy of the present dispensation.
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